The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing a tubular, semifinished copper alloy part, particularly suitable for producing ingot molds for the continuous casting of steel. Ingot molds of the aforementioned type are employed for feeding molten steel from the smelting furnace to manufacturing machinery. They are tubular in shape, and may be straight or curved, with any internal cross section. This is usually square or rectangular, and may vary gradually in size along the mold axis.
Ingot molds of the aforementioned type are usually formed from tubular semifinished copper alloy parts formed by means of extrusion or drawing. The semifinished parts so formed are subjected to further processing, usually involving permanent deformation of the same, for achieving an inner surface finish and mechanical strength as required by the finished mold.
The process according to the present invention is particularly suitable for producing semifinished parts for the manufacture of ingot molds of the aforementioned type.
A major drawback of known extrusion and drawing processes, for producing said tubular semifinished parts, is that they involve numerous processing stages, each of which provides for only slightly modifying the shape and size of the part formed in the previous stage. Also, such processes require the use of extremely powerful presses.